Today’s post comes Evan Jansen, another member of IEDP and a fellow GA. He discusses some of the challenges our cohort has faced this semester as well as his position as his position as the GA Events Coordinator. He’s also got an amazing blog that you should check out. Around this time a three years ago I was living in rural Thailand undertaking my initial efforts … Continue reading Creating spaces
Well, this month has certainly turned out to be… challenging. With the election results occupying everyone’s minds, rightfully causing us to question our safety, worry about family and friends’ safety, and even making us wonder what the future of our work will look like. I don’t think there is anyone in the program who is satisfied with the outcome, and it has all but magnified … Continue reading IEDP Friendsgiving
Pretty much. My reticence on this blog has been the main factor in why you’re not getting a post every single day, but this isn’t revolutionary information. Graduate students are busy, and IEDP isn’t a cake walk. That all being said, let me share with you some fun things that are occupying my time: Meeting Harry Potter at his eponymous festival at Chestnut Hill. (Seriously, this … Continue reading All I do is work, work, work
Communitanitos of penals Comtittities Technical proposals are fun, especially when you work on them later at night. For Proseminar, our major assignment is a technical proposal, which essentially is a large-scale document that lists and defines the requirements of a project, and explains the approach and plan formulated to address them. Earlier in October, Dr. GK made everyone choose a region they wanted (yours truly went … Continue reading The words you come up with in technical proposals
Yes, yes, the cliché rings true. I’ve been relatively silent over the past few weeks, and this blog post is both a procrastination technique (shh, don’t tell my professors) and a necessary update for you all on what it’s like to be a graduate student here in IEDP at Penn. The number of hats I’m wearing, while keeping my head warm as the cold fall … Continue reading Oh, how the time flies
Today’s post comes from fellow IEDPer Gabby, who gives us a look at one of the many questions/ideas we confront in educational development. Her post originally ran on The Reign XY, a guide to being Generation Y, X Chromosomes, that she co-founded. In case you missed it, recently the U.S. State Department and Peace Corps announced the launch of “English For All”, a new program that … Continue reading English for All?
“[Y]ou become a servant of the local passion, the servant of local people who have a dream to become a better person. So what you do — you shut up. You never arrive in a community with any ideas, and you sit with the local people … And what we do, we become friends, and we find out what that person wants to do.” A member of our cohort, Kristina, shared this very … Continue reading The importance of listening
I walked into my IEDP orientation unsure of whom I was going to meet, what I was going to learn that day, and at times, exactly what I expected of myself during this year. Throughout the session, I couldn’t help but feel, thanks to the newly-formed relationships and set of questions, a growing sense of excitement for this program. I’m very thankful to be surrounded … Continue reading Welcome to IEDP 2016!
The International Educational Development Program 